"Whenever I had to go up against Deion, I could not sleep," Rice said. "We talk about this now, and Deion, the same, he could not sleep, because we knew the magnitude of that rivalry and we wanted to go out there and play our best football. It was a mano-a-mano against each other. I respected him."

Rice said the rivalry between the young players needs time to grow to even be in the conversation.

"Richard Sherman is a good defensive back," Rice said. "Crabtree is an upcoming receiver. He is doing well. Let those guys build a reputation first.

"I'm one of those guys, you never want to be compared. Give these guys an opportunity to earn that reputation. Just don't give it to them because they are still in the early part of their career. And hopefully, they can be a great matchup in the future."